Re: where is kernel-package ?

["Susan G. Kleinmann" <sgk@sgk.tiac.net>]

Hi Chris --

You said:
> 
> I can't find kernel-package
> anywhere on ftp.debian.org... I found kernel-headers, and kernel-source,
> but I already have a tar.gz of the source. 
It's in rex/binary/misc.  It't not clear why.


> Do I even need the kernel-package? What benifits will it give me?
kernel-package allows you to make a kernel-image_whatever.deb file.

Fetch a new kernel source.  Make sure it's clean.  If not, run
make clean.

Then you can (I do) run make config, or make menuconfig, or make
xonfig, whatever you like.

Then if you run 
make-kpkg -revision local.1 kernel_image

in your top level source directory, you'll have a new .deb file
in the directory just above that, which will allow you to install
the kernel (and modules) in such a way that they can be managed
by the Debian package management system.

Personally, I use the kernel-package this way all the time for 
making custom boot floppies, since the bootdisk.sh script requires
a kernel-image_whatever.deb file for its input.

HTH,
Susan Kleinmann